Our first meeting in 2016 was:

Bridging the gap between languages: exploring connections between French, Spanish and English

Date and Time:  Saturday, 16 January 2016 - 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Location:  Aichi University Toyohashi Campus (Building 5, Room 541)

Speakers:  Régis Olivero and Staci-Anne Ali

Each language is uniquely structured. However, romance languages share a deeper connection. They share a historical background as well as some linguistic similarities. By learning one language, learners unconsciously are already equipped with the basics of another language. The speakers showed the connections between French, Spanish and English. They also demonstrated how to recognize the benefit of related languages, illustrate the opportunity available within a wider community due to language proficiency, and explore how fostering a healthy appreciation for languages other than English can open doors of opportunity worldwide.

Staci-Anne Ali and Régis Olivero are both lecturers at Aichi University. Staci earned a Masters of Arts in TEFL. Her research interests include World Issues in the EFL class, Gender Equality in Society and content based approaches to language learning. She has over nine years of experience teaching language to the community in different capacities in Japan.
Régis teaches French in the Humanities Department, and has previously taught in France and Thailand. He has a Masters Degree in Didactics in Foreign Language from the University of Lyon (France). His research interests include areas like linguistic connections (phonetics, mental lexicon etc) and he publishes on themes such as the relationship between regional dialects and the French language.

Fee for JALT members:  Free
Fee for one-day members:  1,000 yen

Find out about our meeting in December.